Where we have come from (readings for Sunday 29th September):
Amos 6.1, 4-7
Psalm 146
1 Timothy 5.6-19
Luke 16.19-31
Readings for today
Psalm 62
Hosea 12.2-14
Matthew 19.16-22
thought for today
In amongst Hosea's subtle challenge to the people of the southern kingdom using his dealings with Jacob so long before as a frame of reference, is the confident statement of Ephraim (the tribe tracing its lineage to one of the sons of Joseph): "Ah, I am rich, I have gained wealth for myself; in all of my gain no offense has been found in me that would be sin." Ephraim, like ourselves much of the time, has got the wrong end of the stick completely. Wealth is neither a proof of goodness nor a cover from sin. It is always something that comes into our hands in trust from God. God always has something to say about our relationship with money, and the way that we use it in spending, saving and lending. And at the end of the day God may well ask us at some point to relinquish it for his sake.
Revised Common Lectionary copyright © 1992 Consultation on Common Texts. Used by permission
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